Rotary live knife peelers are utilized for peeling such fruit as pears and apples. The rotary knife cutter is moved over the surface of the fruit from one end to the other while the fruit is rotated. A guard on the shaft housing assembly is held usually in directionally biased engagement with the fruit as the rotary knife cutter rotates and moves over the surface of the fruit.
Prior art rotary live knife constructions are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,058,502 (FIG. 8), 3,115,171, 3,277,941 and 4,176,594, each owned by the assignee of this invention and this application.